POLSCI 389K Politics and Policy in Contemporary China Spring 2018 Dates/contact hours: Academic Credit: Course format: 300 minutes per week for 7 weeks 1 course lecture + classroom discussion Instructor s Information Melanie Frances Manion Vor Broker Family Professor of Political Science Political Science Duke University melanie.manion@duke.edu Phone: +1 919.660.5951 Prerequisite(s), if applicable No prerequisites Course Description Inquiry into politics and policy in contemporary China from the perspective of major American scholars. Equal focus on political fundamentals and management of major new policy challenges. Political fundamentals include elite politics, policy process, political culture, legal reform, representation, interest groups, interest articulation, collective action. Policy challenges include economic growth, socioeconomic inequality, corruption, social media, population planning, environmental degradation, minority nationalities, China as global player. Although the course focuses on China, there will be a strong comparative aspect with most topics ancient, colonial, and modern China, pre Mao and post Mao China, et cetera. Course Goals / Objectives Course aims to build knowledge and capacity in four areas: 1. Knowledge of major features of Chinese politics and policy that are (or are not) distinctive, ability to explain sources of successful policy performance, nuanced understanding of core political and policy challenges. 2. Understanding of major questions of consensus and disagreement in China field and assessment of evidence and methods underlying how we know what we think we know. 3. Ability to engage in critical thinking and to formulate and support well reasoned arguments using reliable, appropriate evidence. 4. Familiarity with key sources to make further progress, after the course is completed, in acquiring expertise on public affairs of contemporary China. 1
Required Text(s)/Resources Required reading. Governance and Politics of China, 3rd edition, by Tony Saich (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) is basic textbook for course so students should buy this book. Supplementary required reading materials in electronic form accessible on course Sakai website. Recommended Text(s)/Resources Accessible on course Sakai website. Additional Materials (optional) Course Requirements/Key Evidences Reading required course materials, keeping up to date with current public affairs, quizzes, writing assignments, exams, optional term paper Technology Considerations, if applicable Students may use laptops to take notes in lectures and discussions. Course will show several clips of documentaries on Chinese politics, with optional viewing of longer selections (e.g., entire films) outside of class time. Assessment Information/Grading Procedures Performance evaluated with scheduled in class quizzes, participation, two writing assignments, and two examinations. Distribution of grade: quizzes 10 percent, participation 15 percent, two writing assignments 10 percent each, exams 25 percent and 30 percent. I will discuss reading and writing skills with the EFL professors to coordinate instruction in these areas. Quantity of reading per week may be challenging for EFL students but should not be overwhelming. Reading assignments may be adjusted based on feedback from first two or three sessions of class. Diversity and Intercultural Learning (see Principles of DKU Liberal Arts Education) Course will be of interest to students of various backgrounds. Each may come with her or his own personal interests and objectives but course fosters deep exchanges among students to help them consider the history, politics, economics, and sociology of China s place in today s world. Guidance on group work and class participation to be provided for students unaccustomed to open discussion style of teaching and learning. EFL students to be encouraged to consult with writing and oral communications instructors for strategies on reading, writing, listening, and presenting in English. Course Policies and Guidelines Course Policies 2
Instructors expectations for all assignments and activities will be made as explicitly as possible, given the likelihood of a wide range of background conventions and habits among the students. The Duke Kunshan University Community Standard will be discussed and adhered to. Academic Integrity Each student is bound by the academic honesty standard of the Duke Kunshan University. Its Community Standard states: Duke Kunshan University is a community composed of individuals of diverse cultures and backgrounds. We are dedicated to scholarship, leadership, and service and to the principles of honesty, fairness, respect, and accountability. Members of this community commit to reflect upon and uphold these principles in all academic and non academic endeavors, and to protect and promote a culture of integrity. Violations of the DKU academic honesty standard will not be tolerated. Cheating, lying, falsification, or plagiarism in any practice will be considered as an inexcusable behavior and will result in zero points for the activity. Attendance Students are responsible for all the information presented in class. As indicated above, class attendance and participation are important components of the grade. Make up work Students are allowed to make up work only if missed as a result of illness or other unanticipated circumstances warranting a medical excuse, consistent with DKU policy. You must notify the instructor in advance if you will miss an exam or project deadline. Documentation from a health care provider is required upon your return to class. Project extensions requested for medical reasons must be negotiated at the time of illness. Appropriate or inappropriate use of cell phone, laptop, or other technology during class Students are allowed to use their laptops, ipads, and smart phones to access course related web materials during class. Tentative Course Outline or Schedule 1: Introduction Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 1 33. Weight of the Past 2: Imperial Legacies Elizabeth Perry, Chinese Conceptions of Rights : From Mencius to Mao and Now, Perspectives on Politics 6, no. 1 (2008): 37 50. Tianjian Shi and Jie Lu, The Shadow of Confucianism, Journal of Democracy 21, no. 4 (2010): 123 130. 3: Winning Power Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution through Reform, 2nd edition (New York: Norton, 2004), 27 56. 4: Maoist Era Development and Utopia Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 34 66. Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People s Republic of China, Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, June 27, 1981 (excerpts). 5: Post Mao New Deal Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 67 107, 262 296. 3
Political Elites and Elite Politics 6: Ideology Robert A. Dahl, Democracy and Its Critics (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1989), 52 64. Yu Keping, Democracy Is a Good Thing, in Democracy Is a Good Thing: Essays on Politics, Society, and Culture in Contemporary China (Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 2006), 3 5. 7: Communist Party Organization Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 108 141. 8: Leaders, Governance, Policy Processes Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 142 178. Melanie Manion, Chinese Political Structures, Chinese Policy Process (figures). 9: Getting Along and Ahead in Chinese Politics Bruce J. Dickson, Who Wants to Be a Communist? Career Incentives and Mobilized Loyalty in Contemporary China, China Quarterly, no. 217 (2014): 42 68. 10: Corruption Melanie Manion, The Challenge of Corruption, in China s Challenges: The Road Ahead, edited by Avery Goldstein and Jacques de Lisle (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), 125 138. Melanie Manion, Taking China s Anticorruption Campaign Seriously, Economic and Political Studies, vol. 4, no. 1 (2016): 3 18. IN CLASS MIDTERM EXAM Managing Society: Fundamentals Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 241 261. 11: Laws, Rights, Obligations Robert Weatherley, The Evolution of Chinese Thinking on Human Rights in the Post Mao Era, Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, vol. 17, no. 2 (2001), 19 42. 12: Stability Maintenance Bruce J. Dickson, No Jasmine for China, Current History, vol. 110, no. 737 (2011): 211 216. Yuhua Wang, Coercive Capacity and the Durability of the Chinese Communist State, Communist and Post Communist Studies, vol. 47, no. 1 (2014): 13 25. 13: Information Revolution, Information Management Jonathan Hassid, Controlling the Chinese Media: An Uncertain Business, Asian Survey, vol. 48, no. 3 (2008): 414 30. Yuezhi Zhou, Watchdogs on Party Leashes? Contexts and Implications of Investigative Journalism in Post Deng China, Journalism Studies, vol. 1, no. 4 (2000): online. 14: Acceptable Channels of Interest Articulation Lianjiang Li, The Empowering Effect of Village Elections in China, Asian Survey, vol. 43, no. 4 (2003): 648 662. Melanie Manion, Authoritarian Parochialism: Local Congressional Representation in China, China Quarterly, no. 218 (2014): 311 338. 4
Managing Society: Issues 15: Political Dissidence and Everyday Protest Andrew J. Nathan, Chinese Democracy (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), 3 44. http://www.tsquare.tv/film/gateexcerpts.php#5. Clip from Gate of Heavenly Peace documentary. At http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/china/jingshen.html, r ead and compare Wei Jingsheng s 1978 manifesto on the fifth modernization with the 2008 manifesto, Charter 08, at http://www.charter08.com/charter08.php. 16: Population Planning Tyrene White, Domination, Resistance, and Accommodation in China s One Child Campaign, in Elizabeth Perry and Mark Seldon, eds., Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance, 3rd edition (London: Routledge Curzon, 2010), 171 196. 17: Inequality Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 297 335, 364 391. Martin King Whyte, China s Post Socialist Inequality, Current History, vol. 111, no. 746 (2012): 229 234. 18: Religion and New Spiritual Movements David Ownby, Qigong, Falun Gong, and the Body Politic in Contemporary China, in Lionel M. Jensen and Timothy B. Weston, eds., China s Transformations: The Stories Beyond the Headlines (Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007), 90 111 Wrapping Up, Moving Forward 19: Sino U.S. Relations Peter Hays Gries, Tears of Rage: Chinese Nationalist Reactions to the Belgrade Embassy, China Journal, no. 46 (2001): 25 43. Susan L. Shirk, China: Fragile Superpower (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 212 254. 20: Studying China: How Do We Know What We Know? FINAL EXAM version for Reisinger committee 13 October 2016 5